SURFERS PARIDISE

Thursday, Jan 27-  Day 3 – Byron Bay – today we got to sleep in – we didn’t leave the hostel until 8:30. Last night we celebrated Australian Day with a BBQ at our hostel with sausage with sanghas and meat pies – traditional Aussie food and lots of beer. Good fun.

We drove about 250kms from  Coffs Harbour to Byrons Bay. It was an interesting trip – we saw our first wild Kangaroos, fields of sugar cane, and hundreds of wild lilies growing along the ditches. We stopped along the way to watch dolphins in the ocean.

I learned to day that Bottle Shops are liquor stores and that when they ask you if you are knocked up it doesn’t mean “ are you pregnant?” It means have you had enough to eat. That caused a lot of laughs when the guy serving sauage and sanghas asked me if I was knocked up. Needless to say I could easily be the other kids on the trips mom.

Another interesting sign I kept seeing today was  “Stop.Revive.Survive.” They constantly have these signs along autoroutes to  encourage people to take breaks when driving. These signs would be great on all roads.

After arriving in Byron Bay ,Peter, Marilyn and Murray along with Lisa ( one of the younguns) headed off for a surfing lesson. They came back tired but energized from having so much fun – they all managed to get up on their boards. The rest of us browsed around the town, a real tourist area for surfing, tried out the beach and vegged in the hammocks at the hostel. Can’t beat the pace of life.

Tonight we are all off to a local restaurant recommended by PJ , our guide.

Jan 28

Today was another exciting day at Byron Beach . We started the day off with a trip out to snorkel with the turtles. While on our way out to the reef we saw lots of dolphins playing in the water next to the boat.  Once at the reef we all took the plunge. We saw 3 or 4 large turtles floating about and may species of fish some leopard sharks and lots of many different types of rays.  It was all too soon before we started back . Just as well because the swells were large and a few of us were geting sea sick and looking a little green.   After lunch was just the opposite as we were high in the sky.  Murray and lauren decide to go para sailing. I (Peter ) was too chicken to jump off the side of a cliff in hopes the air would hold me afloat and trusting in a few small cables. LOL  It was definantly a high light of the day for them. Tonight is another BBQ at the hostel and then off to an early bed to prepare for another adventure tomorrow.

COFFS HARBOUR

Another beautiful day in Aussie land on Aussie day ( Jan 26  the same as Canada Day  in Canada) Today we drove up the coast for 260 kms and came upon a town called   Coffs Harbour. A beautiful seaside fishing village.  We started the afternoon by visiting a place called the Big Banana, a typical tourist trap with so many toys made in China we thought we were in the visiting the wrong  country.  The highlight of this town was the Dolphin and seal show. One of the only ones we have ever seen where you could touch and play with the Dolphins and seals along with the penguins which we fed.  After a two hour show  we took a  long walk up a coastal mountain called Muttonbird Island . A good 10 km hike on a very hot and humid day. The wind at the top was enough to nearly blow a person off the mountain .Next was a cool dip in the ocean to cool us all down. Tonight is a beer and BBQ evening so are going to soon  get a head start on the evening .Yesterday we had our eyes open to a 3 star hostel  after staying in 5 star!!! Tonight we are back to 4 star – a real luxury.

TAURANGO ZOO AND SYDNEY AQUARIUM

Time to catch up again. Saturday we headed off by ferry to the Taurango Zoo. It was great fun to take a tram to the top of the mountain and work our way through. Adorable koalas, lazy kangaroos, horrendous snakes, plus all the usual zoo aniamls. WE also visted the marine area and saw the penquins. After the zoo we packed up and moved across town to our first hostel, on the edge of Chinatown. An 8 story building with lots of amenities.
Sunday morning our friends Marilyn and Murray arrived.They headed off for the walking tour while Peter and I visited the Barracks Museum and connected with the history of Australia. It was a surprise to hear that as a British colony even Canada sent convicts to Australia.
Monday we headed off to another part of Sydney, Darling Harbour where we went to the aquarium What an experience. It had every fish, shark, coral, jelly fish, penquin, etc known to Australia and the presentation was unreal. We spent a lot of time in tunnels with sharks, stingrays, sea turtles, etc floating around us. We were in awe.

Today, Tuesday we met up with our tour. There are 4 others plus our bus driver/ tour guide. The others range in age from about 22-30 and are all from England, one couple and two single girls - all very friendly. We left Sydney and headed up the coast. The highlight of the day was visiting a koala hospital and having a tour. Then we walked on Mac Quarie beach where we are spending the night.

OFF TO THE ZOO

Another beautiful day – we decided to head off to Tauranga Zoo which we accessed by a 15 minute ferry from Circular Quay. Nice to see Sydney from the water – since it was Saturday the bay was full of beautiful sail boats . Once you arrive at the island you take a tram to the top of the zoo – built on a large hill and start walking. It was fun to see the native animals. The koala bear looks exactly like the teddy bears we have at home. They look so cuddly you just want to pick them up. The kangaroos  were  exactly as we expected – but it was hot and they weren’t too active. We also saw Tasmanian devils, meekrats, emus, penquins and all the usual zoo animals we would see at home. I got brave and went into the reptile part which for Australia involved many kinds of huge snakes. I’m glad it wasn’t feeding time!!!!We later moved from the B&B in The Rocks to our first hostel in  central Sydney. We were glad to see an elderly couple on the elevator with us – we didn’t want to be the only old fogies in the hostel!! I took a walk around the area – we are actually in Chinatown and I went to a huge market – part of it was Asian vegetables – very interesting.Tomorrow – Sunday the Mc Caigs arrive and we have 2 days together before we leave on our big adventure.One of the attached pics is taken in the oldest pub in Sydney – Hero of Waterloo. The story is that during the early 1800’s sailors would come off their ships to drink. Once  they started to get drunk the bar owner fed them more FREE booze to get them really loaded. When they passed out a shute opened and they were dumped into the basement where they were put in a wheelbarrow and carried through a tunnel to a waiting slave ship. They woke up to find themselves captive at sea. Fun story!! On to more adventures tomorrow.